SHANKAR IAS ACADEMY

Upgrading The CEPA With South Korea Why in news? India has decided to upgrade its existing trade pact with South Korea. The domestic industry has flagged concerns over the agreement. What is CEPA? Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement - CEPA, was a trade deal signed between India & South Korea in 2009 . The CEPA has increased bilateral trade volumes by over 50%. Many Korean companies have penetrated deep into the Indian consumer goods market and have directly benefitted from CEPA. Recently in a review meeting, both countries have decided to upgrade the CEPA at the earliest – possibly by 2018. This has angering domestic exporters, who claim the pact has disproportionately helped Korean exporters. What are the concerns about CEPA? Trade Deficit –  India’s trade defict with South Korea is continuously worsening with time. While India imported $12.58 billion worth of goods from South Korea in 2016-17, its exports totalled only $4.24 billion. Misuse ...

Listing Of NHAI Why in news? Union ministry of Road transport is planning for initial public offering or IPO of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). What is an IPO? An initial public offering, or IPO, is the very first sale of stock issued by a company to the public. Until a company’s stock is offered for sale to the public, the public is unable to invest in it. Prior to an IPO the NHAI has shareholders made up primarily of early investors i.e. government itself or its authorised firms. By now any individual or institutional investor who wasn’t involved in the early days of the NHAI’s capital, can buy the shares. What is the need for such proposal? Roadways ministry has long argued that there is “no shortage” of money but due to changing economic trends, it came up with the plan of IPO. Due to bad debts and NPAs the government is not so confident in investing on infrastructure projects. Banks are taking too long to approve the financial closure of highw...

Disqualification Of MLAs - II What is the issue? The recent disqualification of 18 MLAs in Tamil Nadu by the Speaker brings to the fore certain constitutional questions on the role of the Governor and the Speaker. What are the contentious issues? Governor  - The Governor in this case is showing reluctance to order a floor test, despite a request from the opposition party. A Constitution Bench has earlier observed that the activities within a political party, as to any turbulence or unrest, were beyond the concern of the Governor. The Governor can intervene only when a breakaway group constitutes two-thirds of a party, as stipulated in the Tenth Schedule. However, notably the Bench adds that the Governor should take action during a constitutional crisis i.e. when the government is seen to have lost the confidence of or majority in the House. Thus the court bars Governors only from political embroilment and not restrict their constitutional duty and responsibility. ...

Tata’s Hard Choice What is the issue? Tata Steel’s recent merger is a proof of hard commercial considerations in overseas acquisitions. What is the merger about? Tata Steel had announced its tentative plans to merge their European steel operations in a 50:50 joint venture. Tata Steel and Germany’s ThyssenKrupp AG have planned for this merger. This merger will emerge as the second largest steel producer in the high value-added European market. These companies clarified that this merger is driven more by “industrial and strategic logic” than the need for financial engineering or job cuts. What is the need for the merger? This merger is more about reducing exposure to the barely-growing and over-supplied European market. Tata Steel is keen to free up the capital from its overseas plants in order to double its Indian capacity. Global operations have become a millstone around Tata Steel’s neck. ThyssenKrupp has been progressively shedding its commodity businesses to f...